About

I would like to start this blog by touching on what motivated me to start this project. For years I’ve thought about writing a book of some sort, basically a book covering many subjects as seen from my point of view. I consider myself a typical guy, I’m married (love), I have a job (hate), casually follow sports and politics, I’m overweight, and I currently smoke (future entries regarding the last two). I’m a very hands on type of guy, if something is broken, I’d much rather at least try to fix it (it may be destroyed in the end), then take it to a repair shop (if one exists), or call someone to get it fixed. I grew up in a rural conservative household, where we were taught to be reliant on ourselves. I know it may be a foreign concept to some, but that is how we did it. That life has greatly influenced my view of life.

One day I was driving to Austin TX for a meeting, and I started thinking about different subjects that are close to my heart, but that I don’t seem to have a decent outlet to distribute my thoughts. That in turn got me thinking about a book. As it turns out, after a bit of searching, writing a book isn’t all that hard. All you have to do is write! Well I guess that’s not all you have to do. If you’re interested in writing a book here is a blog entry by Scott Berkun regarding writing a book. In it he addresses the truth about book writing and the amount of work involved. From actually writing a book people will read, and dealing with publishers/editors. I won’t cover those subjects here, but I would encourage anyone interested to give it a read.

Anyway, I pretty much decided that writing a book was out, and the idea went back to the recesses of my mind. That was until the other day. I was reading an article over at Christian Personal Finance, regarding blogs, and it donned on me that a blog could be a good outlet for my thoughts. Besides helping me with my finances (of which there are a ton of good articles), Bob’s articles helped pull the idea of a book back into the front of my mind. That night I didn’t fall asleep until after 2 am thinking about blog topics, and only after I jotted them down on a note pad did my mind finally shut down, and I was able to fall asleep, albeit much later than I wanted to. I still had to get ready for work at 6. Thank you, caffeine.

So what am I shooting for? Well that’s complicated. As the title of this blog suggests, it’s about Liberty and Life. Well, well, that’s some broad topics. I know, and at this point, I haven’t really fleshed out what is going to be covered. My plan is by the time I start this blog (and if you’re reading this, then I have), I’ll have some articles regarding my ideas of what Liberty is, what a person can do to “Live” life, and some other off the wall commentaries regarding DiY projects, traveling this great Nation, and dealing with stressful roadblocks in life.

Liberty- This Country was founded on the principle of Liberty, we’ve all heard the saying “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”, but what does that mean, and where does it come from? I will try to explain it as I see it, using mostly my own limited vocabulary, I’m sure I’ll reference smarter people then I, and I hope to link to many good reference sites. Liberty can cover many subjects, from overreaching Federal government, local governments, financial freedom, personal freedom, and personal responsibility. So look for more entries regarding any of the above subjects, plus some I’m sure I forgot.

Life- Well isn’t what we all want is to live, but how does one “Live”? Does owning a home, working 8-5 at some “job”, spending your remaining time propped up in front of the TV constitute “Living”? I don’t think so, and I should know, I’ve been doing it for years. I’ve finally come to a point in my life that I’ve realized that I am completely unhappy. So what am I going to do about it??? I don’t know yet. I’ve got some plans. I was talking to a friend the other day and she said she keeps waiting for life to happen to her; at that point a thought came to me. You cannot wait for life to start, you have to start it. I know, profound. Great, so the key to living a happy life is to make a happy life for yourself…But how? I’m not sure, but I plan on starting that journey soon.

DiY- A couple years ago my wife and I started on an epic journey. To completely remodel our existing 1000 square foot home, add an additional 1000 square feet, and do it mostly by ourselves, while we both worked full time jobs. Well it’s been quite the journey, and technically it’s still not done yet, so I may write a few articles regarding our successes and our mistakes, and hopefully someone can benefit from them.

Travel- As mentioned earlier you have to make your own happiness. One of the things we’ve been able to do is travel to quite a bit of the western United States. I’ll hopefully have some posts on what we’ve seen and enjoyed, and something’s we didn’t.

Photography- As a teenager I loved taking pictures of things, I haven’t really done much lately, and would like to get back into it (hopefully something that makes me happy). So in the future I hope to post some pics I’ve taken throughout the years, both past and future (not pics of the “future” I’m no Marty McFly).

Gadgets/Electronics- My wife says I’m a gadget junkie. I don’t think I am, but that in its self can be an indication of my problem. From time to time I’ll write something about some new gadget I’ve seen or heard about, I don’t consider myself a professional by any means, but I know what I like, and whether it works for me or not.

So I guess that about covers what my plans are for this blog. I’m sure I’ll end up covering more subjects than I have anticipated, or if it all goes to crap (I hope not), I’ll end up with nothing. Feel free to look around, and if you like this you know what to do. If you want me to write about something specific, let me know and I’ll give it a shot, or try to find someone who knows better than I.